Five Minute Friday – Measure

Joining up at Five Minute Friday again this week. March has been a rough month for me and I can honestly say I’m glad to see it come to an end, but I’m also recognizing that April may not be much better. Today’s prompt for FMF is Measure. So, here goes:

How do we measure our lives. It is such an overwhelming task. We live for years and years and years if we are lucky and during that time, so much comes to pass. Good things, bad things, difficult things, impossible things, easy things, fun things, joyful things. But, how do we truly measure our lives? I started this blog ten years ago and my focus was getting “more” out of life. Having something “more” to show for my forty years. But, ten years later, I’m not even sure what that would look like. I’m not sure I would know if there was “more” to show. Because I don’t know what should be showing up, what I should be measuring.

We use a lot of measurements in our society. What do you own? What have you accomplished? How much money do you have in the bank? How many friends do you have? What awards have you won? But, do those really measure anything meaningful. I mean, some things measure meaningful things. Accomplishing things that help others or make the world a better place are good. Money is good if you use it the right way. Friends are valuable. But, how do you truly measure any of those things? Accomplishing one really meaningful thing may be better than accomplishing numerous less meaningful things. A small amount of money used well may be more meaningful than a ton of money used poorly or left in the bank. Friends can be deep and truly inspirational, but they can also be surface-level and actually decrease our self-awareness or self-acceptance.

I guess I will probably never have an answer to this question. But, I do know that God has set forward a meaningful life that can be measured in a meaningful way. We just don’t always have the tools to do that and we need to trust as we move through life. We need to look for opportunities to do meaningful things.

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Published by Chico Speech Coach

Idea gardener. Public speaking and argument instructor. Dir. of Intercollegiate Speech and Debate at CSU Chico. I have been a Communications Studies instructor and an Intercollegiate Speech and Debate coach for over two decades. I love being able to give individuals a confident and effective voice they can use in their lives. In addition, I have always enjoyed research and writing and helping to develop ideas by guiding students to the sources that will grow those ideas into something special. Information Literacy is a key part of our technological society and I believe it makes for lifelong learners.
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God has blessed us with so much and yet it can be so easy to focus on our lack or our troubles because of course being on this planet those are a given. Praise God that Jesus has overcome it all and freed us to be beyond our focus. Great post. Got me thinking.

Such great questions to ponder. Sometimes it’s hard to know how impactful your life has been, but those to whom you have shown love and care to will know.. you have made a difference even if you don’t know it.